Third sector a business case away from deeper digitalisation

With charities under increasing pressure to do more with less, relying on digital tools in their work could be a key saver of time and funds that would be better used elsewhere. According to Eman Al-Hillawi, the CEO of change consultancy Entec Si, digitalisation has the power to transform every area of a charity’s operations. From fundraising to administration and marketing, there is enormous scope for technology to bring about positive change.

A new report published by Brunel University London has shed light on the financial and skills barriers stalling the third sector’s digitalisation. Around 37 per cent of UK charities have a digital strategy in place but only 11 per cent are at a stage where this is fully integrated in the organisation’s overarching strategy. With limited resources, opportunities to power forward with website upgrades, improve data maturity, and even hire digital roles to support with digital skills, are few and far between. That said, digitalisation is now unavoidable so assessing the organisation’s digital needs and developing a strong business case for key areas should be prioritised.

In the case of fundraising, individual charities rely on different sources of income to fund their operations. Some receive sponsorships from big corporate bodies, while others reach out to the public for funding, pursue grants, rely on subscriptions, or receive legacy gifts left to them in wills. Whatever the income source, it is essential that charities maintain their own cost efficiency to support the running of the organisation, enabling them to continue contributing to society. The more streamlined processes are for the systems in place, the easier it is for charities to run effective operations and maximise their income.

In order to attract much-needed financial support, an online presence, whether through social media, email marketing or a website, is essential for charities as it enables them to harness digital tools and remain in the public eye. These digital channels play an increasingly instrumental role in raising the profile of charities and attracting support, with many taking to social media to increase their visibility and engage with potential donors through online marketing tactics. However, as many not-for-profit organisations operate on limited resources such as one-person marketing teams, greater care and thought must be put into measuring capacity and skill sets to ensure maximum return on their marketing activity.

Data plays a crucial role in this process. To achieve outreach goals, charities must be targeting and attracting the right audience, and to do this, they need to have the right information about targeting preferences. Having relevant data on hand enables charities to ensure they’re focusing their efforts on the right prospects, streamlining a vital process and boosting efficiency. For this reason, data collection and analysis play a pivotal part in maximising an organisation’s impact. 

Attracting support for a charity is competitive at the best of times, and without visibility it’s even harder. We live in a highly integrated digital world, so the more a charity puts itself out there online, the more likely it is to attract the support it needs and meet its purpose. If charities are not digitally literate, they run the risk of being invisible, unable to reach their target audience and falling behind their competitors.

In addition to building an online presence charities face the challenge of attracting and retaining digitally literate talent. From a salary perspective, it can be hard for charities to compete with the private sector. People who work for a charity tend to do so because they are passionate about the cause; however, this on its own is not always enough to retain key team members. The key to overcoming this challenge is to understand what would attract potential employees, such as hybrid or flexi-working, the right culture and values, as well as selling the charity’s vision, and creating a roadmap of how prospective employees can contribute to achieving this shared goal, and what career development opportunities they may have.

For charities who want to strengthen their online presence and become digitally integrated, a great place to start is with the organisation’s vision. From there, they can understand what challenges they’re facing, the progress they are making along their roadmap, as well as creating clear steppingstones that will pave the way to their end destination. Whatever the gap is between the current situation and the goal, understanding how technology and data can help close that gap is key to making progress. It’s all about integrating people, processes and technology.

There is a common misconception that funding is a barrier for charities who want to grow a digital presence when, in fact, it’s a matter of prioritisation. Sometimes, to move forward, it is necessary to take a step back with the mindset of ‘investing to save’. To succeed in this area, organisations must put together a robust business case that clearly lays out how technology and digital processes would help bring about the desired transformation, as well as outlining the efficiencies or income such changes would generate. If a charity has the drive and ambition to pursue this kind of investment, as well as the right business case to support it, there is no reason why that organisation should not see the results they’re striving for.

Eman Al-Hillawi is the CEO of change consultancy Entec Si.